In the field of integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing, wafer edge protection apparatuses are used for improving wafer processing efficiency by protecting the edge of wafers coated with negative photoresist during the wafer exposure process, and thus considered as a necessary enabler for simultaneous wafer exposure and edge protection. In order to achieve wafer edge protection during exposure, such an apparatus is required to be deployed within an exposure apparatus (photolithography tool) at such a proper position relative to a wafer stage carrying the wafer that, upon the stage moving fast to a transfer position, it can place an edge protection ring over the wafer for edge protection. In such a spatial environment with the aforementioned operating conditions, the apparatus is required to be very reliable because any collision, no matter why and how it occurs, as well as how strong its impact is, may make the wafer useless, or lead to impaired performance of and, in worse cases, even physical damage to, the photolithography tool. Therefore, there is a critical need for safer, more reliable edge protection means.
Chinese Patent Application No. 200910055394.X discloses a method and device for wafer edge protection, and Chinese Patent Application No. 201010102423.6 discloses a wafer edge protection device and its use. However, neither of these devices is capable of collision protection in terms of mechanics or pneumatic control. For this reason, during their operation, there is still a potential for damage to be caused by collisions to the wafer and photolithography tool.